MLB Player News

Astros first baseman Chris Carter continued his hot spring on Sunday.

Carter homered for the second straight day, hitting a full-count pitch for a solo shot to left in the third inning. 

Carter went three for three on the day, adding a single and a double to his performance. 

Carter is hitting .320 this spring, with 10 RBI in 10 games. 

Rays manager Kevin Cash indicated Saturday the team is getting closer to deciding where infielder Asdrubal Cabrera will play, per MLB.com. Cash said a decision on whether Cabrera will play at shortstop or second base could happen by Tuesday's off-day.

Cabrera is batting .217 (5 for 23) with no extra-base hits and one RBI in nine spring games.

Angels first baseman C.J. Cron is having a very productive spring at the plate. Through 13 games, he is batting .364 (12 for 33) with two home runs, three doubles and five RBI.

Cron is having success this spring because he is able to hit to the opposite field.

“When he’s going right, that’s what you’re seeing him do more often,” manager Mike Scioscia said, per The Orange County Register. “He’s swinging it great.”

Cron had just five hits to right field, as opposed to 28 hits to left field last season. Cron said that’s not indicative of how he has swung throughout his minor-league career.

“It means you’re on time,” Cron said of hitting the ball to right field. “If you take that pitch outside and drive it to the other field, it’s better than rolling over (and pulling the ball weakly). I’m feeling comfortable. I’m seeing the ball good right now.”

The Angels are also looking for Cron to be more selective at the plate after he had just a .289 on-base percentage as a rookie in 2014.

“I think with experience you’ll see a player understand more and more what he can do and what pitches he’s putting better swings on,” Scioscia said. “That plate discipline doesn’t always lead to walks. It can lead to getting better pitches to hit. I think you are going to see him refine his selection of pitches more and more as his career goes on. I don’t know if all of it is showing up right now, but it will.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash doesn't appear ready to name a starting shortstop, as he said Tuesday he likes "all the guys we have" competing for the job. However, it appears Asdrubal Cabrera and Nick Franklin are the favorites over Tim Beckham, per MLB.com.

"[The candidates are] still kind of bouncing back and forth," Cash said. "But we want the guy who is going to make the routine play. And not to say that anybody's not doing that, [it] seems like they're all doing that. Cabby just has the experience factor with making that play."

Cash said a decision on who will be the starting shortstop could be made next week.

Angels 1B/DH C.J. Cron homered for the second straight game during Thursday's spring game against the Cubs. He went 2 for 4 with two runs and one RBI.

Cron is off to a good start this spring. He is batting .389 (7 for 18) with one double, two home runs, four RBI and four runs in seven games.

White Sox manager Robin Ventura is pretty confident Jose Abreu will perform well again this season, reports MLB.com. Many fear he may hit a sophomore slump, but Ventura lauds Abreu's maturity as a reason for him being just fine this year.

"He's more of a mature kid than most people, just in his daily interactions of coming in to work and all the things that he does," Ventura said. "There are guys older than him that are less mature than him. It's more about him than anything else. He's not caught up in numbers."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia praised the intensity and enthusiasm of outfielder Kole Calhoun Monday as part of what makes him such a valuable part of the team's lineup, MLB.com reports.

"I think part of what makes Kole a good player is his intensity," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "You need that focus, that intensity to know this is real and it's how you compete. With Kole, it's in him and it bubbles out. He pumps his teammates up and he does a great job setting the tone for us."

"It's how I was raised," Calhoun said. "I'm a pretty passionate person in most everything that I do. I think at this level, you've got to be. You've got to compete on every pitch because that's your livelihood. Everyone's fighting for the same thing and you want to come out on top."

Calhoun excelled as the team's leadoff batter in 2014, hitting .281/.336/.471 with 17 home runs and 58 RBI in 448 at-bats while slotted first.

When asked about former Mets teammate Ruben Tejada, Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes shook his head and said "something is wrong," per Newsday.

Reyes revealed that during his final season with the Mets he tried to pass the torch to Tejada to become his replacement. Reyes landed in Miami in the offseason, and Tejada was destined to be his permanent replacement. Now entering spring training, Wilmer Flores is viewed as the favorite to win the starting job at shortstop for the Mets.

"Every time I talk to him I try to give him some advice," Reyes said. "What can I do? I try to push him to do stuff. I don't know if he gets it or not...He had the opportunity to be the everyday shortstop for a long time there in New York. You have to work, man. When you're younger, you think you have everything there for you. But if you do something wrong, it's going to go away. Quick.

"When I was there, I always give a lot of advice to him. We were always together. My last year there, every time I talk to him: 'This is going to be your position for a long time. Don't let it go away.' See what happened now? It's 2015 and he doesn't have a position to play. When they talk about who is going to play every day, they don't talk about Tejada. They talk about Flores."

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons hinted that Danny Valencia and Chris Colabello will see some time at left field this spring, according to Sportsnet.ca. Toronto is hoping to fill a void at left field after the team announced Thursday that Michael Saunders will be sidelined until July with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

In his career, Valencia played left field in only five games in the minors. Colabello has logged 30 career games in the majors at left field.

There's no denying White Sox slugger Jose Abreu had a pretty impressive rookie season in 2014. He was named AL Rookie of the Year after he hit .317 with 35 doubles, 36 home runs and 107 RBI in 145 games. He made the All-Star team. He won a Silver Slugger award. He also finished fourth in the AL MVP race.

While Abreu likely has personal goals set aside, he contends his focus is all about helping the team.

"I cannot say that I will put up the same numbers or be better," said Abreu through translator and White Sox Spanish-language broadcaster Billy Russo, per MLB.com. "I just can say that I will try to do the best every day to help the team win games.

"If the numbers are the same as last year, it's good for me. But my main focus right now is to try to be the best player possible and help the team. [The front office] gave us the opportunity to be better this year and to compete this year. That is the most important thing for us in baseball."